Directorate for Education and Skills

Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship

Apply between 5 April and 24 May 2015

The OECD Directorate for Education has launched the Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship Programme. Mr. Alexander (1940 - 2012) was the Director for the OECD’s Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate from 1989-2000. He joined the OECD in 1974 where he was responsible for launching the OECD's work on International Education Indicators, the OECD publication "Education at a Glance" and "Education Policy Analysis", as well as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which he conceived as a tool for governments to build relevant skills for all children and to turn these skills into better social and economic outcomes. This fellowship is funded by the Open Society Foundations, where Mr. Alexander launched several education initiatives after leaving the OECD in 2000.

The programme seeks to develop and support improvements in education quality and equity, particularly in emerging economies, in three ways by:

Supporting quantitative research to provide evidence-based analysis relating to education policy and practice.

Strengthening the use of such analysis in policy making.

Helping education leaders modify their practices to maximise its impact on student learning.

Fellows' profile

Thomas J. Alexander Fellows will typically come from research institutions, universities, governmental agencies or organisations. Ideally they will have experience with quantitative research methods and large-scale surveys and have articles published in scientific journals. The programme encourages applicants from a variety of disciplines.

Applying for a fellowship

Applicants should complete and send the application before the deadline through our job opening website. They should define their policy areas of interest, identify policy questions, and indicate the intended research methods, explaining why OECD data (from PISA, TALIS, PIAAC, etc.) are particularly well-suited to address those questions. Proposals focusing on improving equity in education are particularly encouraged. Applicants should explain how their work would benefit the broad public and promote quality and equity in the education systems. Two call for proposals are issued every year. You can use thisform to help you prepare your application and then copy and paste the information into our formal application process.

Selection process

Applications will be considered by a group of experts in the field of international education assessment. Candidates will be selected on the basis of the innovative, potential, and technical quality of the proposals as well as on the qualifications and experience of the applicant and their value added during their time working at OECD headquarters in Paris. Fellows will be expected to spend at least three months and up to a maximum of 12 months in Paris. They will be expected to produce a publishable research paper or report at the end of their fellowship.